"O God, my God! How I search for
you! How I thirst for you
in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I
long to find you! How I wish
I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory,
for your love and kindness
are better to me than life itself. How I praise you! I will bless
you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer. At last I shall be fully
satisfied; I will praise
you with great joy.

"I lie awake at night thinking of
you--of how much you
have helped me--and how I rejoice through the night beneath the
protecting shadow of your
wings. I follow close behind you, protected by your strong right
arm. But those plotting
to destroy me shall go down to the depths of hell. They are
doomed to die by the sword, to
become the food of jackals. But I will rejoice in God. All who
trust in him exult, while
liars shall be silenced."

Psalm 64

"Lord, listen to my complaint:
Oh, preserve my life from
the conspiracy of these wicked men, these gangs of criminals.
They cut me down with
sharpened tongues; they aim their bitter words like arrows
straight at my heart. They
shoot from ambush at the innocent. Suddenly the deed is done, yet
they are not afraid.
They encourage each other to do evil. They meet in secret to set
their traps. He
will never notice them here, they say. They keep a sharp
lookout for opportunities
of crime. They spend long hours with all their endless evil
thoughts and plans.

"But God himself will shoot them
down. Suddenly his arrow
will pierce them. They will stagger backward, destroyed by those
they spoke against. All
who see it happening will scoff at them. Then everyone shall
stand in awe and confess the
greatness of the miracles of God; at last they will realize what
amazing things he does.
And the godly shall rejoice in the Lord, and trust and praise
him."

(from "The Book," pg.
598, special edition of The
Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, 1986, Wheaton,
Illinois)

Note from ERM: I am greatly indebted
to my dearly beloved
daughter, Doris Ann, for bringing to my attention Psalms 63 and
64. . .Yes, Doris, thank
you so very much, and rest assured that I do trust in God always,
and I know that I am
protected by His "strong right arm."